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Islam and Secularism
Islam and Secularism
1993
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CONTENTS
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
ix
Xl
Secular-Secularization-Secularism
15
51
97
133
139
143
149
152
160
169
Indexes
General Index
186
196
List of Figures
Figure I
156
Figure II
157
Figure III
158
Figure IV
159
AUTHOR'S NOTE
TO THE FIRST EDITION
The present book is a development of ideas contained in
the many paragraphs of another book in Malay entitled:
Risalah Untuk Kaum Muslimin, which I wrote and completed
during the first few months of 1974. Due to many
circumstances which demanded my attention at horne and
abroad, however, the Risalah has not yet been sent to the
press.
In this book, what is contained in Chapter III was
composed and completed during the month of Ramaqan
of 1395 (1975), and delivered as a Lecture under the same
title to the International Islamic Conference held in April
1976 at the Royal Commonwealth Society, London, in
conjunction with the World of Islam Festival celebrated
there that year. It was published as a monograph in the
same year by the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia
(ABIM) , KuaIa Lumpur, and in 1978 it appeared, together
with other Lectures delivered on the same occasion by
various Muslim scholars, in a book of one volume entitled:
The Challenge of Islam, edited by Altaf Gauhar and published
by the Islamic Council of Europe, London.
All the other Chapters of the book were begun in March
1977 and completed in April of the same year, during my
appointment as Visiting Scholar and Professor of lslamics
at the Department of Religion, Temple University,
Philadelphia, U.S.A., in the Winter and Spring of 19761977. What is contained in Chapter V was presented as a
Paper entitled: "Preliminary Thoughts on the Nature of
Knowledge and the Definition and Aims of Education",
addressed to the First World Conference on Muslim
Education held at Mecca in April 1977. It will appear,
together with other selected Papers of the Conference, in a
book entitled: Aims and Objectives of Islamic Education, edited
with an introduction by myself and published by King
Abdulaziz University and Hodder & Stoughton, London,
1979, as one of a series of seven books.
Syed Muhammad Naquib aI-Attas
Kuala Lumpur, Mu1.larram 1399/ December 1978.
xu
that these are not merely empty slogans, for they will
realize that these aims and objectives reflect a profound
grasp of the real problems confronting the contemporary
Muslim world. The aims and objectives of the Institute are
by no means easy to accomplish. But with concerted effort
from dedicated and proven scholars who will deliberate as
a sort of organic body which is itself rooted in authentic
Islamic learning and are at the same time able to teach
various modern disciplines, we shall, God willing, realize
the fulfilment of our vision. Even so, a significant measure
of these aims and objectives has in fact already been
realized in various stages of fulfilment. Concise books have
already been published by ISTAC outlining frameworks for
Islamic philosophies of education including its definition
and its aims and objectives;' of science;6 of psychology and
epistemology,7 as well as other such works which altogether
will be integrated to project what I believe to be the
worldview of Islam. ~ It is within the framework of this
worldview, formulated in terms of a metaphysics, that our
philosophy of science and our sciences in general must
find correspondence and coherence with truth. ISTAC has
already begun operating as a graduate institution of higher
learning open to international scholars and students
engaged in research and studies on Islamic theology,
philosophy, and metaphysics; science, civilization,
languages and comparative thought and religion. It has
5 AI-Attas, 'The Concept ojEducation in islam, ISTAG, Kuala Lumpur, 1991
(first published in 1980).
6 Ibid., isliirn and the PhilosOPh.VojScience, ISTAG, Kuala Lumpur, 1989.
7 Ibid., 'The Nature oj lvIan and the Psychology of'the Human Soul, ISTAC,
Kuala Lumpur, 1990.
8 ibid., The intuitioll of Existence. lSTAC, Kuala Lumpur, 1990; On
Quiddity and Essence, ISTAC, Kuala Lumpur, 1990; 'The Meaning and
Experience of Happiness in islam, ISTAG, Kuala Lumpur, 1993. These,
together with the works cited in notes 6 and 7, represent outlines of
Islamic psychology, cosmology and ontology forming the substance
of a fonhcoming book entitled Prolegomena to the Metaphysics ofisliim.
xiv
xv
10 See my lsliim and the Philosophy of Science, ap. cit., pp. 23-25.
XVll
THE CONTEMPORARY
WESTERN CHRISTIAN
BACKGROUND
About ten years ago* the influential Christian philosopher and one regarded by Christians as among the foremost of this century, Jacques Maritain, described how
Christianity and the Western world were going through a
grave crisis brought about by contemporary events arising
out of the experience and understanding and interpretation of life in the urban civilization as manifested in the
trend of neo-modernist thought which emerged from
among the Christians themselves and the intellectuals philosophers, theologians, poets, novelists, writers, artists
- who represent Western culture and civilization. l Since
the European Enlightenment, stretching from the 17th to
the 19th centuries, and with the concomitant rise of reason
and empiricism and scientific and technological advances
in the West, English, Dutch, French and German philosophers have indeed foreshadowed in their writings the
crisis that Maritain described, though not quite in the same
manner and dimension, for the latter was describing in
conscious and penetrating perception the events of contemporary experience only known as an adumbrated prediction in the past. Some Christian theologians in the
1976.
See his Le Paysan de la Garonne, Paris, 1966.
6
7
8
10
11
12
13
II
SECUlAR-SECUlARIZATIONSECUlARISM
In the preceding pages I have tried to convey in brief
outline and cursory sketch the real contemporary situation
in the Western Christian world. Although the sketch is very
brief I believe that it has at least captured in summary and
true perspective the essential components comprising the
fundamental problems that beset Western Christian
society. We must see, in view of the fact that secularization
is not merely confined to the Western world, that their
experience of it and their attitude towards it is most
instructive for Muslims. Islam is not similar to Christianity
in this respect that secularization, in the way in which it is
also happening in the Muslim world, has not and will not
necessarily affect our beliefs in the same way it does the
beliefs of Western man. For that matter Islam is not the
same as Christianity, whether as a religion or as a civilization. But problems arising out of secularization, though
not the same as those confronting the West, have certainly
caused much confusion in our midst. It is most significant
to us that these problems are caused due to the introduction of Western ways of thinking and judging and believing
emulated by some Muslim scholars and intellectuals who
have been unduly influenced by the West and overawed by
its scientific and technological achievements, who by virtue
of the fact that they can be thus influenced betray their
lack of true understanding and full grasp of both the
Islamic as well as the Western world views and essential
15
16
17
secularization.~~ The integral components in the dimensions of secularization are the disenchantment of nature,
the desacralization of politics, and the deconsecration of
values. 23 By the 'disenchantment' of nature - a term and
concept borrowed from the German sociologist Max
Weber24 - they mean as he means, the freeing of nature
from its religious overtones; and this involves the dispelling
of animistic spirits and gods and magic from the natural
world, separating it from God and distinguishing man from
it, so that man may no longer regard nature as a divine
entity, which thus allows him to act freely upon nature, to
make use of it according to his needs and plans, and hence
create historical change and 'development' . By the
'desacralization' of politics they mean the abolition of
sacral legitimation of political power and authority, which is
the prerequisite of political change and hence also social
change allowing for the emergence of the historical
process. By the 'deconsecration' of values they mean the
rendering transient and relative all cultural creations and
every value system which for them includes religion and
worldviews having ultimate and final significance, so that in
this way history, the future, is open to change, and man is
free to create the change and immerse himself in the
'evolutionary' process. This attitude towards values
demands an awareness on the part of secular man of the
relativity of his own views and beliefs; he must live with the
realization that the rules and ethical codes of conduct
18
which guide his own life will change with the times and
generations. This attitude demands what they call 'maturity', and hence secularization is also a process of 'evolution' of the consciousness of man from the 'infantile' to the
'mature' states, and is defined as "the removal of juvenile
dependence from every level of society .... the process of
maturing and assuming responsibility .... the removal of
religious and metaphysical supports and putting man on
his own".25 They say that this change of values is also the
recurrent phenomenon of "conversion" which occurs "at
the intersection of the action of history on man and the
action of man on history", which they call "responsibility,
the acceptance of adult accountability".2b Now we must take
due notice of the fact that they make a distinction between
secularization and secularism, saying that whereas the
former implies a continuing and open-ended process in
which values and worldviews are continually revised in
accordance with 'evolutionary' change in history, the latter,
like religion, projects a closed worldview and an absolute
set of values in line with an ultimate historical purpose
having a final significance for man. Secularism according to
them denotes an ideology.~7 VVhereas the ideology that is
secularism, like the process that is secularization, also
disenchants nature and desacralizes politics, it never quite
deconsecrates values since it sets up its own system of values
intending it to be regarded as absolute and final, unlike
secularization which relativises all values and produces the
openness and freedom necessary for human action and for
history. For this reason they regard secularism as a menace
to secularization, and urge that it must be vigilantly
watched and checked and prevented from becoming the
ideology of the state. Secularization, they think, describes
the inner workings of man's 'evolution'. The context in
which secularization occurs is the urban civilization. The
25 Cox, ibid., pp. 109; 119.
26 Ibid., p. 123.
27 Ibid., p. 21.
19
20
21
rather misreading - contemporary experience and consciousness into the spirit and thought of the past is nothing
but conjecture. The evidence of history shows early
Christianity as consistently opposed to secularization, and
this opposition, engendered by the demeaning of nature
and the divesting of it of its spiritual and theological significance, continued throughout its history of the losing
battle against the secularizing forces entrenched paradoxically within the very threshold of Western Christianity. The
separation of Church and State, of religious and temporal
powers was never the result of an attempt on the part of
Christianity to bring about secularization; on the contrary,
it was the result of the secular Western philosophical attitude set against what it considered as the anti-secular
encroachment of the ambivalent Church based on the
teachings of the eclectic religion. The separation represented for Christianity a status quo in the losing battle
against secular forces; and even that status quo was gradually
eroded away so that today very little ground is left for the
religion to play any significant social and political role in
the secular states of the Western world. Moreover the
Church when it wielded power was always vigilant in acting
against scientific enquiry and purely rational investigation
of truth, which seen in the light of present circumstances
brought about by such 'scientific' enquiry and 'rational'
investigation as it developed in Western history is, however,
partly now seen to be justifiable. Contrary to secularization
Christianity has always preached a 'closed' metaphysical
world view, and it did not really 'deconsecrate' values
including idols and icons; it assimilated them into its own
mould. Furthermore it involved itself consciously in sacral
legitimation of political power and authority, which is
anathema to the secularizing process. The westernization of
Christianity, then, marked the beginning of its secularization. Secularization is the result of the misapplication of
Greek philosophy in Western theology and metaphysics,
which in the 17th century logically led to the scientific
revolution enunciated by Descartes, who opened the doors
22
23
24
25
other such scholars, most of whom, if not all, did not even
practise the religious life, who knew not nor believed in
religio~ without doubt and vacillation; who were skeptics,
agnostics, atheists, and doubters all. In the case of religion
we say that in order to know it man's self itself becomes the
'empirical' subject of his own 'empiricism', so that his study
and scrutiny of himself is as a science based upon research,
investigation and observation of the self by itself in the
course of its faith and sincere subjugation to Revealed Law.
Knowledge about religion and religious experience is
therefore not merely obtained by purely rational speculation and reflection alone. Metaphysics as we understand it
is a science of Being involving not only contemplation and
intellectual reflection, but is based on knowledge gained
through practical devotion to that Being Whom we
contemplate and sincerely serve in true submission
according to a clearly defined system of Revealed Law. Our
objection that their authorities, on whose thoughts are
based the formulation and interpretation of the facts of
human life and existence, are not reliable and acceptable
insofar as religion is concerned on the ground stated above
is valid enough already. We single out religion because we
cannot discuss the issue of secularization without first
coming to grips, as it were, with religion by virtue of the
fact that religion is the fundamental element in human life
and existence against which secularization is working. Now
in their case it seems that they have found it difficult to
define religion, except in terms of historicity and faith
vaguely expressed, and have accepted instead the definition
of their secular authorities who when they speak of religion
refer to it as part of culture, of tradition; as a system of
beliefs and practices and attitudes and values and aspirations that are created out of history and the confrontation of man and nature, and that 'evolve' in history and
undergo a process of 'development', just as man himself
'evolves' and undergoes a process of 'development'. In this
way secularization as they have defined it will of course be
viewed by the theists among them as a critical problem for
26
27
29 Even philosophy in the West has now more and more come
to be regarded as unable to give a conclusive answer to its
permanent question about truth. Philosophy attempts to
clarifY only the "truth-perspective" of the age in which the
crisis of truth occurs, and is hence now regarded as an 'open
science'. Advocates of this view are clearly representatives of
28
29
self-searching 'evolution' and 'development' that Christianity experienced and will continue to experience. Though
some of us use the terms 'tradition' and 'traditional' in the
context of Islam yet these terms do not and are not meant
to refer to the kind of tradition that originated in man's
creative activity which evolves in history and consists of
culture 32 They always refer to the Holy Prophet, who may
God bless and give Peace!, and to the religious way and
method of the Prophets of the Abrahamic . tradition'; and
this tradition is originated by revelation and instruction
from God, not created and passed on by man in history. So
now we who follow that religious way and method are
following that 'tradition'. Since Islam is the religion which
transcends the influences of human 'evolution' and historicity, the values embodied in it are absolute; and this
means that Islam has its own absolute vision of God, of the
Universe, of Reality, of Man; its own ontological, cosmological, psychological interpretation of reality; its own world
view and vision of the Hereafter having a final significance
for mankind. As such therefore it completely rejects the
notion of 'deconsecration' of values if that were to mean
the relativization of all values continually recurring in
history as they mean. Islam certainly deconsecrates all
values in the sense of all unislamic values; in the sense of
values that run counter to Islam and to the truth which is
partially found in the other world religions and in the good
traditions of man and his society (al ma'rufi. There cannot
be for Islam a deconsecration of every value system including its own, because in Islam all value systems that need
deconsecration, all human and cultural creations including
idols and icons, have already been deconsecrated by it so
that there is need of no further 'evolution' of values, or of
relativization of values, since its values which include the
truth as partially found in other world religions and in the
good in man and his society, are already the ultimate for
mankind. The same is the case with the 'desacralization' of
32 We are referring here to the concept of naqL
31
32
33
34
35
34 See above pp. 9-12. See also Dewart, The Future of Belief, pp.
152-159.
36
37
himself as "copartner with God in creation" as some modernist and even traditional Western Christian theologians
think. He must treat nature justly; there must be harmony
between him and nature. Since he has been entrusted with
the stewardship of the Kingdom of Nature which belongs to
God, he must look after it and make legitimate use of it,
and not ruin and spread chaos over it. If nature is like a
great, open Book then we must learn the meaning of the
Words in order to discern their tentative and final purposes
and enact their biddings and invitations and instructions to
beneficial use in such wise that we may come to know and
acknowledge in grateful appreciation the overwhelming
generosity and wisdom of the incomparable Author. It is
not surprising, though regrettable, that Bonaventure of
Bagnoregio, a contemporary of Aquinas, never developed
this important symbolical significance of nature into
Christian theology, for he too did remark tllat nature is like
an open Book which those who know the meaning of the
Words are able to understand and interpret. This remarkable observation by him was undoubtedly derived from the
Holy Qur'an, whose Latin translation was available to him.
But it is not surprising that he did not develop the idea into
Christian theology because Western Christianity was then
not inclined to treat nature respectfully as a subject of study
in the intellectual sense. Moreover, and with reference to
the intellect, Bonaventure was the leading follower of
Augustine who stressed the importance of the intellect in
man as the organ of contemplation of higher truths. At that
time Aquinas was deeply involved in the defense of Aristotle
against Augustinianism and Platonism and Neo-Platonism
which predominated among the Averroeist and Avicennan
schools in the University of Paris. The ultimate victory went
to Aquinas, and Augustinianism along with its stress upon
the intellect was vanquished. Only in our day has some
notice begun to be made of Bonaventure's observation
about nature/' albeit only in a rather incidental sort of way
38
39
40
41
--------
42
- - - -
43
45
46
47
48
49
III
51
52
53
54
55
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So naturally he who ponders thus sincerely knows intuitively that his sense of being indebted for his creation and
existence cannot really be directed to his parents, for he
knows equally well that his parents too are subject to the
same process by the same Creator and Provider. Man does
not himself cause his own growth and development from
the state of a clot of congealed blood to the one that now
stands mature and perfect. He knows that even in his
mature and perfect state he is not able to create for himself
his sense of sight or hearing or other - and let alone move
himself in conscious growth and development in his
helpless embryonic stage. Then again:
i~1 .j-!
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46 AI-'Asri(103):2.
57
e)
,).) cr
49 There is a close connection between the concept here described and the application of the verb raja 'a in its vaIious forms
in the Holy Qur'an with reference to man's return to God.
50 LA, vol. 2:442, col. 2-445, col. 1.
51 True dill brings life to a body otherwise dead just as 'the rain
which God sends down from the skies, and the life which he
gives therewith to an earth that is dead.' See alBaqamh(2):164.
58
,).) cr
~I
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4JY'
cr
.M..: JI 1
.JJI Jy,1
....,
l::-> t.;
'1.0
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cr
.. .In the rain which God sends down from the skies, and
the life which He gives therewith to an earth that is
dead _ ss
By returning himself to his Lord and Master, by loyal!)'
and truly following and obeying God's Commands and
Prohibitions and Ordinances and Law, the man thus acting
will be requited and will receive his good return multiplied
many times over, as God says in the Holy Qur'an:
L..,. L.;, -'"
~..r? t.; ~I
59
0""
.J <..i.......::..
60
. :.u~
'I have only created the Jinn and Man that they may
serve Me' (ya 'budiini) .'"
When we say that such a man is fulfilling the purpo~t' for
his creation and existence, it is obvious that that man's
obligation to serve God is felt by him as normal because it
comes as a natural inclination on the man's part to do so.
This natural tendency in the man to serve and worship God
is also referred to as tfin, as we have observed in the
beginning in connection with its connotation as (W;/Olli,
habit, and disposition. However, here in the religious context
is has a more specific signification of the natural stale oj
being called fitrah. In fact din does also mean fi(rah.';iI Fi{mh is
the pattern according to which God has created all things.
59 Al-Dhiiliyiit( 51) :56.
60 LA,vol. 5:58, cols. 1 & 2; see also al-Rum(30):30.
61
62
r-L I ~
If anyone desires a religion (din) other than Islam (alIslam), never will it be accepted of him ... b3
and again:
62 ~l-Nisa' (4):125.
63 ~li 'Irnran (3):85.
64 Ali 'Irnran (3):19.x
63
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0""
lA>';;
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65
66
67
1Il
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71 See al-il.'riif(7):179.
72 il.l-Tawbah (9):111.
73 The man of Islam, i.e., the Muslim.
68
"Die before ye die."it is the same as saying: "Return before ye actually return";
and this refers to the subjugation of one's self by one's real
self, one's animal soul by one's rational soul; and it is
pertaining to knowledge of this Self that he means when he
says:
69
that every soul has heard the "Am I not your Lord?" and
answered "Yea!" and testified thus unto itself. So the man of
Islam who is rightly guided acts accordingly as befits the
true servant of God, His 'abd. We referred earlier to the
purpose for man's creation and existence, saying that it is
to serve God; and we said that the act of service on the
man's part is called 'ibiidah and the service as such 'ibiidiit,
which refers to all conscious and willing acts of service for
the sake of God alone and approved by Him, including
such as are prescribed worship. In poin t of fact, we now say
further that to the man of Islam his whole ethical life is one
continuous 'ibiidah, for Islam itself is a complete way of life.
V\'hen the man has, by means of 'ibiidiit, succeeded in
curbing his animal and carnal passions and has thereby
rendered submissive his animal soul, making it subject to
the rational soul, the man thus described has attained to
freedom in that he has fulfilled the purpose for his creation
and existence; he has achieved supreme peace4 and his
soul is pacified, being set at liberty, as it were, free from the
felters of inexorable fate and the noisy strife and hell of
human vices. His rational soul in this spiritual station is
called in the Holy Qur'an the 'pacified' or tranquil' soul:
al-naJs al-mutma' innah. This is the soul that 'returns' itself
willingly to its Lord, and to it will God address His Words:
.lu JI ~) ~I
~ J>~IJ 1.5~
.j
v-U 1 ~Il:
J>~~ ~r ~I.J
"0 thou soul at peace! Return thou to thy Lord, - wellpleased (thyself) and well-pleasing unto Him! Enter
thou, then, among My servants! Yea, enter thou My
Heaven!"75
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
against its acts of ir~ustice to itself. Though in Islam injustice ostensibly applies between man and God, and between man and man, and between man and his self, in
reality, however, injustice is ultimately applicable - even in
the two former cases - to man's self alone; in the Islamic
world view and spiritual vision, whether a man disbelieves
or disobeys God, or whether he does wrong to another
man, it is really to his own self that he does wrong. Injustice, being the opposite of justice, is the putting a thing in a
place not its own; it is to misplace a thing; it is to misuse or
to wrong; it is to exceed or fall short of the mean or limit; it
is to suffer loss; it is deviation from the right course; it is
disbelief of what is true, or lying about what is true knowing
it to be true. Thus when a man does an act of injustice, it
means that he has wronged his own soul, for he has put his
soul in a place not its own; he has misused it; he has made
it to exceed or fan short of its real nature; he has caused it
to deviate from what is right and to repudiate the truth and
to sufTer loss. All that he has thus done - in one way or
another - entails a violation of his Covenant with God. It is
clear from what we say about injustice that justice implies
knowledge of the right and proper place for a thing or a
being to be; of right as against wrong; of the mean or limit;
of spiritual gain as against loss; of truth as against
falsehood. This is why knowledge (al- 'ilrn: rna'rifah: 'ilrn)
occupies a most important position in Islam, where in the
Holy Qur'an alone we i1nd more than eight hundred references to knowledge. And even in the case of knowledge,
man has to do justice to it, that is, to know its limit of
usefulness and not to exceed or fall short of it; to know its
various orders of priority in relation to its usefulness to
78
79
80
81
82
"1<.'iv
lV!
84
85
85 11L\Jit'idah (5):4.
86
87
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88
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89
93
94
95
:-10.
.11.
:46;
'(21):107.
:164;
:21.
: 11.
: 170.
:4.
:21.
90
91
92
93
94
95
IV
97
99
~)-5.
100
101
102
103
----
------------------------------
104
105
place,
and condition ill liIe and to self discipline in
positive and willing participation ill enacting one's role in
accordance with that recognition and acknowledgement,
its occurrence in Olle and in society as a whole rel1ects the
condition of justice. Loss of allab implies loss of justice,
which in t urn betrays confusion in knowledge. In respect
of the society and community, the confusion in knowledge
of Islam and the Islamic worldview creates the condition
which enables false leaders to emerge and to thrive,
causing the condition of injustice. They perpetuate this
condition since it ensures the continued emergence of
leadeTs like them to replace them after they are gone, perpetuating their domination over the afTairs of the Community. Thus to put it briet1y in their proper order, our
present general dilemma is caused by:
AU the above roots of our general dilemma are interdependent and operate in a vicious circle. But the chief cause
is confusion and error in knowledge, and in order to break
this vicious circle and remedy this grave problem, we must
first come to grips with the problem of loss of adab, since
no true knowledge can be instilled without the precondition of allab in the one who seeks it and to whom it is
imparted. Thus, for sublime example, God Himself commands that the Holy Qur'an, the Fountain of aU true knowledge, cannot even be touched in approach save through
the prescribed allab of ritual purity. Indeed, 'ibiidah in its
106
107
occurrence of injustice. The fact that hierarchical disorders have prevailed in human society does not mean that
hierarchy in the human order is not valid, for there is, in
point of fact, legitimate hierarchy in the order of creation,
and this is the Divine Order pervading all Creation and
manifesting the occurrence of justice. God is the Just, and
He fashions and deploys all Creation in justice. In order
that mankind generally might recognize and acknowledge
the just order, He has bestowed upon His Prophets,
Messengers and men of piety and spiritual discernment the
wisdom and knowledge of it so that they in turn might
convey it to mankind who ought to conform with it as
individual and as society. And this conformity with that
order is the occurrence of adair, the resulting condition of
that conformity is justice. Human society is not necessarily
by nature made up of equal elements. From the mineral to
the vegetal to the animal kingdoms of nature we discern
orders of hierarchy from the lowest to the highest. Even
among angels there are those in the highest level nearest
to God (al-muqarrabiin). And in the Hereafter too Heaven
and Hell and their respective inhabitants would all be
likewise ordered from the highest to the lowest. In respect
of the individual, the confusion in knowledge of Islam and
the Islamic worldview very often creates in him an
overweening sort of individualism: he thinks himself the
equal of others who are in reality superior to him, and cultivates immanent arrogance and obstinacy and tends to
reject authority. He thinks he knows whereas in reality he
does not know his place in relation to himself and to
others; and he inclines towards envy. In that condition he
allows his passions to hold sway over his actions and
decisions in life. While God declares that He does not burden a soul more than what it can bear J07 - which reveals
that even souls are not equal in capacity - the individual
we mean, instigated by his own arrogant ambitions and
disposition, does not hesitate to wrongly burden his soul by
107 See al-Baqarah (2): 286.
108
109
llO
III
they see men who have, as if lor the fil'S! time, opened their
minds to Islam; they do not see that these men are poor
imitations of the great of the past. They do not bring
anything new that the illustrious Muslims of the past have
not already brought; nor do they clarify Islam better to the
clouded vision than the immensely superior clarification
accomplished by the masters of the past. Yet, it is such as
they who have been most vociferous and vehement in disparaging and denouncing the past and its great the
learned scholars and thinkers and jurists and men of spiritual discernment. Their conception of the past has been
inl1uenced by Western ideas on human evolution and
historical development and secular science. These ideas
are the second serious instance
the tirst being those of
the Falasifah whom al-Ghazafi vanquished-of the smuggling of Western concepts alien to Islam into the Muslim
mind. But the Falasifah at least understood Western
thought better than they, and although these Modernists
and Reformers were cautious in attempting to islamize the
ideas they brought in, their ideas pose a great danger to
the Muslim's loyalty to Islam because they were not ideas
that could be truly islamized. They opened the doors to
secularism without knowing it, for it did not take long for
their followers to develop their ideas to secular proportions. The great Muslims of the past were not really their
intellectual ideals; people like Rousseau, Comtc, Mill, and
Spencer were more properly their intellectual ideals. Islam
in reality did not seem to be the principle of their thought;
they attempted to fit Islam to their ideals. Though they
claim to be Muslims, their loyalty is to their country, which
loyalty seems to be levelled to the same plane as that due to
Islam. Because they were never really intellectually and
spiritually profound, they preoccupied themselves instead
Witll sociology and politics. Their experience of the decline
of Muslim rule and the disintegration of Muslim empires
made them take notice of Ibn Khaldun and they concentrated their efforts on the concept of ummah and of the
state in Islam. They naturally neglect to lay as much stress
112
113
114
115
occupied themselves with denigrating their greater contemporaries and predecessors. All are prone to levelling
everyone to the same level of equality, notwithstanding the
fact that even in God's Sight we are not all the same and
equal. Indeed, we are all the same in point of being creatures of God, in point of being human beings, cast in flesh
and blood. But our spirits, our souls, though derived from
that One Spirit, and though essentially the same are, in
point of power and magnitude, not the same, not equal. We
are like so many candles of varying lengths and shapes and
hues and sizes; the tallow they are made from is essentially
the same and the light they burn is essentially the same,
but the greatness of the flame, the light each sheds is not
the same in power and magnitude. And we judge the value
of the candle by the light it sheds just as we judge a man by
those qualities by which he is not the same, but excels
another such as by intelligence, virtue, and spiritual discernment. So it is neither correct nor true to regard such a
man as merely a man of flesh and blood like any other, for
he is not like any other in that his intelligence, virtue, and
spiritual discernment transcend the limitations of his i1esh
and blood, and his greatness of spirit manifests his excellence over others. Adab is the recognition and acknowledgement of such lights in man; and acknowledgement
entails an attitude expressing true reverence, love, respect,
humility - it entails knowing one's proper place in relation to him who sheds such light. But these traditionalist
'reformers', in spite of the fact that they are men of far
lesser lights than the luminaries of the past, whose lights in
fact vanish when set against their brilliance, who all too
willingly play at 'reforming' to a confused audience unable
to assess truly the quality of the 'reform' other than by its
own inadequate criteria of estimation, all too frequently become puffed up with their own self-importance. They are
like a signpost on the Way to the Truth that instead of
pointing the traveller along the Way to other earlier, clear-
116
117
has established in our hearts recogmtlOn and acknowledgement of his superiority and excellence over all other
men; and it is these supreme qualities of the Holy Prophet,
upon whom be Peace, that must be stressed to the Muslim
audience of all ages. They may say that in our age of aberrations and excesses in belief and faith, an age in which
they think that Muslims are on the verge of unbelief, it is
proper and timely to emphasize the human and mortal
nature of the Holy Prophet, upon whom be Peace. We
answer that even if what they allege and think is true, and
even if there is genuine good intention in what they do,
they still fail to see that the general confusion of the
Muslims has not been and is not caused by any confusion
on the part of the Muslims as to the nature and personality
and mission of the Holy Prophet, upon whom be Peace.
Confusion in belief and faith among the Muslims has nothing to do with and does not revolve around any issue
relating to the Holy Prophet's humanity and created
nature. The cause lies not in confusion about the created
nature of the Holy Prophet, but in ignorance of tawlfid and
the fundamental articles of faith and other related
essen tials of belief which are all comprised in that category
of knowledge which we have designated as farrJu 'ayn; and
this means that the cause is part of the general cause which
we have in this chapter called confusion and error in knowledge. The basic problem, therefore, is that of educationthe lack of proper and adequate Islamic education - for
such education, rightly systematized, would assuredly prevent tlle occurrence of general confusion leading to aberrations and excesses in belief and in practice. The rise of
false leaders in all spheres of life which follows from loss of
adab and confusion and error in knowledge respectively
means in this particular case the rise of false 'ularnii' who
restrict knowledge (al- 'ibn) to the domain of jurisprudence
(fiqh). They are not worthy followers of the mujtahidiin; the
great Imams who through their individual efforts of
sublime research established the Schools of Law and Jurisprudence in Islam. They are not men of keen intelligence
118
119
~----------------
tion accorded to the acqUlslUon of Iar4u kifayah knowledge. In this respect, too, the social, political, and legal
sciences in that category of knowledge has been demanding - and receiving - undue attention and ascendancy
over the other category in our estimation and our consciousness. It is easy to see why, under these circumstances,
the trend of affairs in Muslim life leads to the 'socialization' of Islam; and the levelling of the Holy Prophet,
upon whom be Peace, to the same level as the masses is but
a logical consequence of that 'socialization'. Together with
'socialization', rationalism-the kind understood in the
West, that is, as derived from the concept ratio, not the
kind we mean as derived from the Quranic 'aql- is advocated by the 'modernists' who emulate the example of
their predecessors at the turn of the century. They futilely
attempt to 'rationalize' Verses of the Holy Qur'an they find
convenient to their purpose in line with the theories and
findings of modern science. Their habit, however, is to
remain silent on many of the other Verses which in fact
cannot be so fathomed and which prove their thinking to
be inadequate and confused. They likewise rationalize all
episodes in the life of the Holy Prophet, ,upon whom be
Peace, and present them in a 'despiritualized' version. By
ineptly treating the nature of revelation as if it were a
'natural' phenomenon, and the Holy Qur'an as if it were
created and on the same level as other books; by presumptuously 'despiritualizing' the life and person of the Holy
Prophet, upon whom be Peace, they prepare the ground
for a 'secularized' Islam. They draw inspiration about ideas
on state and society and man not so much from Islam and
Islamic sources as from Western European sources about
liberty, equality, and fraternity; about the social contract
and the doctrine of human rights and humanistic individualism. The successes of socialism in the West in recent
times have blindly encouraged their thinking in identifYing
socialism with Islam - at least as a political theory and
social order-as if the choice of life-style open to Muslims
lies solely between capitalism and socialism! They do not
see that Islam is neither the one nor the other. If they had
so seen, then they ought to have thought out their ideas
about state and society and man based on their own
intellectual and original efforts grounded upon Islam and
the Islamic sources in the manner of the mujlahidun of old.
But they are intellectually lazy, or inadequate, or incapable
of original ijtihad, and prefer instead to let Western
thinkers think and realize the ideas for them to appropriate conveniently and islamicize in slip-shod fashion.
They do this not only at the theoretical level in the sociopolitical and socio-economic spheres of life, but at the
practical level as well, in which the educational, economic,
financial, legal and other aspects of societal life are being
likewise involved. They are, curiously enough, the very
ones who clamour for ijtihiid while in fact not even one fulfills the conditions for being a mujtahid! The 'traditionalists', although not necessarily in agreement with the
'modernists' in all respects in what they think and say and
advocate, are nevertheless influenced by them and are
infected by the same disease of socializing and despiritualizing Islam and levelling all Muslims. They are, unwiningly
perhaps, aiding the process of 'secularizing' Islam in
attempting to suppress its intellectual and spiritual
elements. They and the 'modernists' erroneously blame
ta~awwuI in particular as the cause of the degeneration of
Muslims. In reality, however, they possess neither the intellectual capacity nor spiritual vision to understand la~awwuf,
and what they do not understand they condemn. They say
ignorantly that ta~awwuI is alien to Islam, and that no
matter how one looks at it ta~aUJwuI contains germs of
decline and degeneration. They are blind to the fact that
ta~aUJwuI is an integral part if Islam; that just as all reality
and truth has an outer and inner aspect to it so is ta~(lwwuf
the inner dimension of Islam; its sincere and correct practice is none other than the intensifIcation of the shan 'ah
upon one's self; it is the expression of ilJ,san in the' abel; it is
'ibadah fortified and enlightened by intellectual discernment leading to spiritual apprehension of realities; it is the
120
121
practice of the shan 'ah at the station of i~Miin; it is established upon certainty as it is based upon J.Ukmah and al- 'ilm
al-Iadllnniyy - wisdom and spiritual knowledge which God
grants to whomsoever he pleases of the elect among His
servants. It is also knowledge that enables the possessor to
recognize and acknowledge the hierarchical order (mariitib)
of reality and truth, and so it is the fount of true adab. Its
technical vocabulary is derived from its chief Source, the
Holy Qur'an, and its interpretation and practice is
grounded upon the Sunnah. Its exponents are the saints,
the awliyii', the Friends of God. To say as they do that
ta~awwuf contains germs of decline and degeneration is to
imply that its Sources and vital principles, the Holy Qur'an
and the Sunnah, are the repository of those very germs!
The germs of decline and degeneration are contained not
in ta"awwuf and its sublime Sources, but in the ignorant
who misunderstands, misapplies and commits malpractices
leading to all sorts of aberrations and excesses. If they who
condemn ta;;awwufmean by it the aberrations and excesses
perpetrated by the ignorant, then they should say so and
clearly distinguish the true from the false, and condemn the
false. But just as they attack the mujlahidun because they see
them through the trivialities projected by the 'ulama' of
less authoritative worth and by those who are even less so,
in the same way they condemn ta~awwufbecause they see it
through the aberrant and excessive mind of the ignorant
who falsely claim to be its exponents. They seem to fall into
the habit of seeing what they think is the true through the
eyes of the false, and so see not the true in reality; and seeing in this fashion they assume the self-styled task of 'purifYing' Islam from what they falsely see to be stains of
impurity. Ta~awwufas seen by them is such a stain. In their
method they are like people who see stains on a white wall
and \vho, wishing to cleanse the wall of the stains, employ
too much detergent, and of the wrong kind withal, so that
instead of erasing the stains only they erase part of the
whiteness of the wall as well and so disfigure the whole
wall. If we cast a cursory glance at Muslim history we must
122
123
1~4
125
126
127
are invariably the same, and these are - apart from the
underlying principles of secular philosophy and science
that produced and nurtured them anthropology,
sociology, linguistics, psychology and the principles and
methods of education. If the underlying principles and
methods of these sciences arc not made subject to some
kind of islamizing formula whereby they would be
rendered harmless, then, as they are, they would continue
to be harmful to the Islamic welfare of the Community.
Loss of adab, then, not only implies loss of knowledge; it
means also loss of the capacity and ability to recognize and
acknowledge true leaders. 111 If all are levelled to the level of
the masses, the 'awlimm, how can true leaders stand out
above the rest? If true leaders are denied their rightful
place above those they lead, how can they be recognized
and acknowledged by the led? And true leaders must not
be confused with the false, for how can nightingales, put in
the same cage as crows, sing? To put true leaders in lofty
stations in our estimation and to put ourselves below them
and to revere, to love, to respect, to affirm their veracity
and confirm in our actions their wise counsels and learned
teachings in humility is not to worship them, as the narrowminded among the modernist and traditionalist
'reformers' erroneously think.
Were
the Angels
worshipping Adam, upon whom be Peace, when they
prostrated themselves before him? Indeed, they were
obeying God, Glorious and Exalted, and recognizing and
acknowledging the superior knowledge bestowed upon the
first man by his Creator - they not only saw the day he is
made from, but they recognized and acknowledged even
more so the spirit that God breathed into him. It was Iblis
who saw only the clay and refused to recognize and
acknowledge Adam's superior nature, and disdained to
128
129
III This, then is the reason why Muslims today often raise the
question as posed on p. 109 above; it is only at this stage that
the answer to that question can be clearly understood and
appreciated.
130
131
132
THE DEWESTERNlZATION
OF KNOWLEDGE
Introduction
Many challenges have arisen in the midst of man's
confusion throughout the ages, but none perhaps more
serious and destructive to man than today's challenge
posed by Western civilization. I venture to maintain that
the greatest challenge that has surreptitiously arisen in our
age is the challenge of knowledge, indeed, not as against
ignorance; but knowledge as conceived and disseminated
throughout the world by Western civilization; knowledge
whose nature has become problematic because it has lost
its true purpose due to being unjustly conceived, and has
thus brought about chaos in man's life instead of, and
rather than, peace and justice; knowledge which pretends
to be real but which is productive of confusion and
scepticism, which has elevated doubt and conjecture to the
'scientific' rank in methodology and which regards doubt
as an eminently valid epistemological tool in the pursuit of
truth; knowledge which has, for the first time in history,
brought chaos to the Three Kingdoms of Nature; the
animal, vegetal and mineral. It seems to me important to
emphasize that knowledge is not neutral, and can indeed
be infused with a nature and content which masquerades
as knowledge. Yet it is in fact, taken as a whole, not true
knowledge, but its interpretation through the prism, as it
were, the worldview, the intellectual vision and psychological perception of the civilization that now plays the key
133
role ill its formulation and dissemination. What is formulated and disseminated is knowledge infused with the
character and personality of that civilization - knowledge
presented and conveyed as knowledge in that guise so
subtly fused together with the real so that others take it
unawares in toto to be the real knowledge per se. What is the
character and personality, the essence and spirit of Western
civilization that has so transformed both itself and the
world, bringing all who accept its interpretation of
knowledge to a state of chaos leading to the brink of
disaster? By "Western civilization' I mean the civilization
that has evolved out of the historical fusion of cultures,
philosophies, values and aspirations of ancient Greece and
Rome; their amalgamation with Judaism and Christianity,
and their further development and formation by the Latin,
Germanic, Celtic and Nordic peoples. From ancient Greece
is derived the philosophical and epistemological elements
and the foundations of education and of ethics and
aesthetics; from Rome the elements of law and statecraft
and government; from Judaism and Christianity the
elements of religious faith; and from the Latin, Germanic,
Celtic and Nordic peoples their independent and national
spirit and traditional values, and the development and
advancement of the natural and physical sciences and
technology which they, together with the Slavic peoples,
have pushed to such pinnacles of power. Islam too has
made very significant conu'ibutions to Western civilization
in the sphere of knowledge and in the inculcation of the
rational and scientific spirit, but the knowledge and the
rational and scientific spirit have been recast and
remoulded to fit the crucible of Western culture so that
they have become fused and amalgamated with all the
other elements that form the character and personality of
Western civilization. But the fusion and amalgamation thus
evolved produced a characteristic dualism in the world view
and values of Western culture and civilization; a dualism
that cannot be resolved into a harmonious unity, for it is
formed of conflicting ideas, values, cultures, beliefs, philo-
134
135
136
137
from what is imbued with these dements, for these elements and what is imbued with them do not represent
knowledge as such but they only determine the characteristic form in which knowledge is conceived and evaluated
and interpreted in accordance with the purpose aligned to
the worldview of Western civilization. It follows too that
apart from the identification and separation and isolation
of these clements from the body of knowledge, which will
no doubt also alter the conceptual forms and values and
interpretation of some of the contents of knowledge as it is
now presented,lI3 its very purpose and system of deployment and dissemination in institutions of learning and in
the domain of education must needs be altered accordingly. It may be argued that what is suggested is but
another, alternative interpretation of knowledge imbued with
other conceptual forms and values aligned to another
purpose which reflects another world view; and that this
being so, and by the same token, what is formulated and
disseminated as knowledge might not necessarily reflect
true knowledge. This, however, remains to be seen, for the
test of true knowledge is in man himself~ in that if, through
an alternative interpretation of knowledge man knows
himself and his ultimate destiny,114 and in thus knowing he
achieves happiness, lIS then that knowledge, in spite of its
being imbued with certain elements that determine the
characteristic form in which it is conceived and evaluated
and interpreted in accordance with the purpose aligned to
a particular world view, is true knowledge; for such knowledge has fulfilled man's purpose for knowing. llb
139
for him by God (q. v. 30: 30). But man is also "composed of
forgetfulness (nisyan);" and he is called insiin basically
precisely because, having testified to himself the truth of
the Covenant, which enJoms obedience to God's
Commands and Prohibitions, he forgot (nasiya) to fulfill his
duty and purpose (q. v. narration from ibn 'Abbas:
140
141
142
I!
1
143
God thi ought ievelation to UtaH; ,uid this refers to the Holy
Quran. The Holy Quian is the complete and fiiial Re\e
lation, so that it suffices ftr luaus guidance and sals dunn;
and there is no other knowledge
except based ttpuml it
and pointing to it
that can guide and save man. God
however, has never ceased to communicate with man, and
out of His Grace, Bounty and Charity He may bestow the
faotmr of specific spiritual knowledge and wisdom upon time
elect among His servants
His friends (i. e. the nulivu )
arious
in proportion to then
degrees of i),isan (t/. : it): o2.
1: 65, 31: 12, 38: 20). The Holy Qurami is the km exledgt
J)ar excellence. The Holy Prophet, who may ( od Bless and
give Peace!
who received the Revelation and brought to
mami the Holy Quran as it xsas re ealed to him by God, who
thus brought to man the knowledge, whose own hifr is time
most excellent and perfect interpi etation of the Holy
Quran so that his life becomes for man the locus of
is knowledge of that
emulation and true guiding spirit
first knowledge on account of his nature and mission
ordained by God. Hence his sunnah, which is his manimer oh
interpreting Gods Law (shari a/i) iii daily life and pmactit e,
is also part of that knowledge. The shari a/i is (,ocls Law
embodied in the Holy Quran amid manifested in somd
(qaw1, model action (Ji ii). and silent confirmation (hn/iI I)
in the unnah which includes spimittmal know ledge amid
wisdom. Sc> then, the Holy Qurdn, the sunnah, the ihart aim.
i/rn al/adunnifi and hikmah are tile essential elements of
the first kind of knowledge. As regards tile last memitioned
spiritual knowledge and wisdom
mitan can only receive
this through his acts of worship and deyotion, his acts of
service to God ( ibadat) which, depending upon Cods
Grace and his own latent spiritual power and capacity
created by God to receise it, the mnamt receives by direct
insight or spiritual saouring (dhawq) and unveiling to his
spiritual vision (ka,shft. This knowledge pertains to his self
or soul, and such knowledge (ma i/ah)
when
gives
experienced in true emulation of the ihan u/i
insight into knowledge of God, and fin that reason is the
144
145
arts
01
sciences
philologists, scholars
146
148
149
L.a
150
151
152
153
purpose, and hence reflects the secular state and society and
not the universal man. But there never has been nor ever
will be, except in Islam in the person of the Holy Prophet, upon
whom be God's Blessings and Peace!, the Universal Man
(al-insiin al-kiirnil) that can be reflected in microcosmic
representation as 'university'. Neither can state nor society
be truly considered as capable of possessing an attribute
called knowledge, for that is only possessed by the
individual man. And even if it be argued that the modern
university is in fact emulating man, yet it is the secular man
that is portrayed; the rational animal devoid of soul, like a
circle with no centre. The various faculties and
departments within them, like the various faculties and
senses of the body, have in the modern university become
uncoordinated, each preoccupied with its own endless
pursuits; each exercising its own 'free will', as it were, and
not the coherent will of one being, for there is no'being' all is 'becoming'. Can one be judged sane and coherent
who contemplates some affair, and at the same time
recognizes something else entirely different from what is
being contemplated, and who says something again quite
different altogether, who hears different sounds and sees
yet again different things? The modern university is the
epitome of man in a condition of ;;.ulm, and such a
condition is maintained by the encouragement and
elevation and legitimization of doubt and conjecture as
epistemological tools of scientific enquiry. The Holy
Qur'an repeatedly repudiates such methods, branding
them contraries of knowledge. Thus doubt (shakk) ,
conjecture and guess (;;.ann) disputation and contention
( mira:, i. q. jiidala), inclination of the mind or soul towards
natural desire (hawa) , are all generally considered
blameworthy the more so when applied to and
masquerading as knowledge. We must take note of the
significance that, in the case of \\Testern culture and
civilization, and with reference to the sociology of
knowledge, the West has defined knowledge in terms of the
effort of science as control of nature and society. With
154
155
Knowledge 01 Prerequisite,
to revealed knowledge (it
represents the Fard 'A.yn
knowledge) whose paw;
ha\'e been illlegrated 10
form the con? knowledge for
individuals
in
Islamic
education,
Knowledge of Sciences
represents
the
Far(t
Kifii'yah
knowledge
whose parts have been
deployed according to
priorities of service to
self, state and society in
the Muslim community)
Fig,I:Man
His \'alious faculties and
senses, both spiritual and
physical
156
157
Knowledge
al- 'lIm
Knowledge of Prerequisites
(Fan!- fl.yn) must reflect
inner
being
of
man
(ru~-llafs-qalb- 'aql) and his
spiritual senses in terms of
faculties and departments.
Must contain specialization.
Projects Islamic vision of
Reality and Truth, and
remains
as
pemunu:nt
'being' of the university.
~ T!teSanllah~
...--------
....
III
The UniveTsity
'pecializali()]1
~
NOli" With respect to the system of order and discipline 'plten:, the abU\c
Schema descends to the university, which is the highest Inel uf lite
education system. However, the same pattel-n as outlined for the uni\'l:n,ity
applies to the lower levels in gradations from the lowest to the highest
158
159
160
161
16~
163
164
165
1.:,13
,-:",is -'::"..J....-..I':'I
166
167
Appendix
ON ISlAMIZATION: THE
CASE OF THE MALAYINDONESIAN ARCHIPElAGO
About ten years ago*, wntmg on the historical and
cultural impact of Islam upon the Malay world which
revolutionized the Malay vision of reality and existence into
a distinctly Islamic world view, I referred to the process that
brought about this phenomenon as islamization, the
integral components of which form part of the dimensions
ofIslam. I wrote then (S.M.N. al-Attas, Preliminary Statement
on a General Theory of the Islamization of the Malay-Indonesian
Archipelago, Kuala Lumpur, 1969), that
... the coming of Islam seen from the perspective of
modern times [that is, seen from the perspective of our
present time when we can 'look back' into the effects of
historical processes which are found to have radically
changed the lives and worlds of men, and discern their
causes and specific and general influences], was the
most momentous event in the history of the Archipelago. (p.2).
In this connection I also drew attention to the
... similarities that exist between the dominant role of
Islam in influencing the beginnings of the European
Middle Ages as Pirenne pointed out [H. Pirenne,
Mohammed and Charlemagne, London, 1958], and the
*l.ein 1967.
169
role of Islam in
so lo speak, both the soul
and Ihl' body of the Malay-Indonesian society. (p. 7).
As a historical and cultural process islamiDllion in the
undenvent three phases.
Phase I: from
578-805/1200-1400, jurisplayed the m<yor role of interpreting
law
in the conversion of the
Malays. The conversion was effected by strength of
faith, not necessarily accompanied by an understanding of the rational and intellectual implications such
conversion entailed. Fundamental concepts connected
with the central Islamic cOllcept of Unity of God
''1'ere still vague in the minds of the converts,
their old concepts overlapping and clouding or confusing the new ones. This phase can well be described
as the cOllversion of the 'body'.
Phase ll: from approximately 803-111 ] 400-1700, COlltinuation of the process described ill Phase I, but
during this phase the m,yor role of interpreting the
religious law had passed on to philosophical mysticism
and metaphysics (ta~awwuj) and other rational and
intellectual elements such as rational theology (kaliim).
During this phase, ~llfism and $iifi writings primarily
and the writings of the Mutakallimun played the
dominant role aimed at the conversion of the 'spirit'.
Fundamental concepts introduced according to the
Islamic weltanschauung, some of which were still
understood in the opaque sense, influenced by the old
weltanschauung, were expounded and defined so that
they were understood in bOlh the transparent and
semi-transparent senses.
Phase Ill: from approximately 1112/1700 onwards,
continuation of Phase I and consummation of Phase II
which had been largely successful. To this phase must
also be assigned the cultural influences brought about
by the coming of the West. V\'hat is generally known as
"\'\lesternization" is here conceived as the perpetuation
of the rationalistic, individualistic, and international-
170
171
172
173
174
175
aesthetic religion was concerned, the relatlOnslup between Arabic on the one hand and the Graeco-Roman
and Irano-Persian languages on the other, was like
Malay and Old Javanese, the latter being the domina~t
aesthetic literary and religious language of the ArchIpelago. Semantically, Old Javanese would have been
less susceptible than Malay of recognizing and accepting the Quranic teachings, since its understanding of
them would have been more clouded or confused by
the existing and firmly rooted concepts and ideas in its
aesthetic religious vocabulary. (pp. 23-24) .
... The Malay language underwent a revolutiona~y
change; apart from enrichment of a great part of Its
vocabulary by a large number of Arabic and Persian
words, it became the chief medium for conveying Islam
throughout the Archipelago so that by the 9th/16th
century, at the latest, it had achieved the status of a
literary and religious language displacing the
hegemony of Javanese ... Malay literature flourished and there are reasons to believe that it even originated
- in the Islamic period. The 9th/16th and 10th/17th
centuries witnessed the unrivalled prolificness of Malay
writing on philosophical mysticism and ,r_atio~al
theology. The first Malay translation of the Qur an WIth
commentary based on al-Bayq.aWi's famous Commentary, and translations, commentaries and original works
on philosophical mysticism and rational theolo~ also
appeared during this period which marked the nse of
rationalism and intellectualism not manifested anywhere before in the Archipelago. Corresponding to
what I have outlined as Phase II of the islamization
process, this period was significant in setting in mot~on
the process of revolutionizing the Malay-IndonesIan
weltanschauung effecting its transformation from an
aesthetic to a scientific one. The underlying factor in
177
180
181
182
183
< ~~ 1 ..j
~I~~ ~I .JJ15
..:r.:..J1 1'.7:'. JI
INDEXES
General Index
'abel 61,70,130
'libid61
'wlad al-mustawti 60 n. 57
'adl (justice) 75, 76
Abrahamic tradition 31
adab
and education 149, 150-152
and hierarchy 107-108
and Islamic system of education 160
andjustice 108, 149
and ta,saurllJuf 123
and wisdom 150
consists in 115-116
loss of adab 105, 123
and corruption of
knowledge 108
cause of degeneration
and decline 124
due to ignorance of
Islam 126
implies loss of justice 106
implies loss of ability to
recognize true leaders 129
restriction on knowledge 118
rapid propagation of 127
symptoms of loss 110
towards God, authority 107
aggiorrtamento 6
A.ht al-Kitiib (People of the
Book) 21,65
Ahl aVfarlqalt 123
Ahl al-Ta.sawwufII2
see also hIJawuruf
al-iikhimh (the Hereafter) 41, 42
see also yawm ai-din and
186
yawm al-(tisiib
amauah (trust) 66, 140
Ante-Nicene Fathers 25
Antiquity 33
arelie 33
Aristotelian 9
philosophy 35
and Western worldview 105
arkan (principles)
ai-lmiin 79
ai-islam (essentials of
Islam) 79
and essentials of Islam 146
aslama 62,63, 70 n. 74
subjugation and submission of the animal soul
to the rational soul 141
ai-asma'(the names) 139
Atman 171
awiiya' (Friends of God)
122, 145
baqa' (subsistence) 86
affirmation of 90
contingent 8, 9
in thought 9
necessary 9
necessity of 8
of the world 8, 9
of man 9
or existence, see wujild
perfection of 90
Islamic vision of Reality i::l6
and Covenant 89
Brahman 171
Byzantine 102
187
dii'in (debtor) 52
as creditor 52 n. iI
danii (brought near) 41
dima (being indebted) 52
in religious and spiritual
context to God 53
see also existence
llafsahu 58, 59
dar
al-(tllrb 12H
ai-islam 128
al- 'ulUm 153
(debt) 52
daymlnah (judgement) 52
(judge) 53
al-dayyan (Supreme Judge) 60
dehellenizatioll 5, 6, 7
deislarnizatioll 46-47,
and loss of adab 104
and secularization 125
deislamizing the Muslims l:!(}1:!9
demythologization 8
deconsecratioll of values 18
Islam rejects 31
proper'!l
desacralization of politics 18, S2
proper'll
deus II
education 160
as core knowledge 16:~
compared with concept of
macrocosm 73
din al-qayyim M
primary significations 52
reflects a cosmopolis 67
rule excercised by the rational soul over the animal
soul 141
see also 'adad al-mustawa, dana,
ftisab ai-.saltz!l and man of
Islam
disenchaIllment of nature 18, S8
see also secularization
projJer41
education
basic problem 118
definition and aims of 149
Islamic system of 160
see also adab, ta 'dib
elllpirical intuition 11
empiricist 18 n. 1S
essence 9
European Enlightenment 1,7,37
existence 9
bringing iulO 55
maintaining 55
and Covenant 89
see also being, wujud
dftikr (remembrance) 90
dilemma,
Muslim 106
see also loss of adab
errOlleous blame on
ta~ awwuf 121
din (religion) 51, 6S, 64, 66, 69
and Covenant 139
and Islamic system of
188
Hellenic
epistemology 6
thought 12
Hijmh 143
I;ikrnah (wisdom) 79, 122, 113,
145
and Islamic system of education ]60
God-given knowledge 149
as core knowledge 16S
{iisab al~saliill 60 n. 57
historical relativism 17
see also secularization
(Wlial (arrival in the soul of the
meaning of a thing) 171
huda (Guidance) 140
habeas ccnpus 77 n. 82
I;add (definition) 144
I;adith 14S,I50
(ull (spiritual mood) 71 n, 76
'ibadah (service)
and 'a mal 14]
and ilts{tu 121
and spiritual knowledge Hf)
pI. 'ibiidat 61,70, 72 n. 77, 79
identified with rna'rip.!! 146
leads to ma'rifall 71, see also
tna'rijah
man's purpose IS9
service and devotion 67
constant recitation, reflec-
n. 68
also 'The Way' 67 n. 68
and knowledge 146
and sll(Jl'j'ah 122, 162
degl'ees of 145
excellence in religious conduct 141
highest virtue 80
in the 'abd 121
happiness 75
is knowledge identified with
justice 14211. 118
see also certainty
hawa (natural desire) 155
al-(layiit al-dunya (the life of the
world) 41, 42
Hebrew 16, 21
189
121,132
ilah (object of worship) 1:>9
'ibn (right cognition) 71 n. 76
and Islamic system of education 160
and justice 78
and loss of adab 118
and nature of knowledge 143
applied to the totality of lite 153
knowledge 80, 139
as core knowledge 163
al- 'ilrn al-ladunniyy (spiritual
knowledge) 122,143, 145
see also !,tikmah
al-yaqin (certainty derived by
inference, deductive or
inductive 135 n. 112
pI. 'ulUm 146
al-shaT'iyyah 164
ilfl{in (belief) 21
also true hlith 41
belief and faith 72
and the nature of
knowledge 143
indian Ocean 104
al-IrlJ!l (the Evangel) 27
injustice see ::;.ullfl
to the soul 78
al-insan
al-kulliyy, al-kamil see Universal
Man
intellerlus 35
!rano-Persian 176, 177
i.,liim (submission) 21,69
concept of change, development and progress 86
definition of 72
objective-subjective Islam
72 n. 77, 73-74
see also revealed religion
submission in service 72
see also mu'min, muslim
and asliima 141
Islam
and the changing of the
Malay:Javanese civilization 174
the coming of 171
educational institutions 153
essentials of 146
essential religious spirit of 175
purpose and end of
ethics 141-142
purpose of seeking knowledge 84
Religion of 85, 87
rise of 101
'secularized' 120
'secularizing' 121
Universal Religion 100
islamization 44-46, 182-183
elements of 127
defined 44-45
intensification of
the process 178
of Arabic 46
of language 45
of the Malay Indonesian
Archipelago 169, three
phases 170
of thought and reason 45
of com temporary knowledge
162
istisld.m (total submission) 6cl
jadala (disputation and
contention) 155
jalll (ignorance) 46
and disobedience 140
see also ni,lyan
Jahili 128
190
lisan (tongue) 72
logical analysis 18 n. 13
rna (Jabal 150
rna'rifah (knowledge) 71
n. 76, 79,8:?
and Islamic system of education lGO
as core knowledge 163
knowledge about God 13!:l
and the nature of knowledge
143
pertaining to the soul 145
see also 'ibn, !,tal
al-ma 'rilf (good traditions of Illall
and society) 31
mad'a/l50
191
maddalla 53-54
llwdhhab (pI. madhahibJ 119
madinult (town) 53
pI. mUll un, madii'in
Madinatu 'l-Nabiy 5:i n. 42
a cosmopolis 14:!
mufmll (lOCllS) 14:!, also makan
mabsii!>iit (sellsibles) 139
majillis (gathering of scholars
and students) 153
mahiin (locus) 142
mahtab 153
malakiit (Absolute Power and
Authority) 60
Malay Archipelago 104
miilik (king) 60,61
Aboslute King 73
mmnliik (slave) 60,61
111an
and Islamic system of education 160
concept of microcosmic representation 142
has two souls 141, see al-naJs
'infantile' :!4
loclls in which dill occurs 14:!
'mamre' 24
nature of 139-143, as core
knowledge 163
of lsi am G8
Perfect Man 90
secular 155
secularization of 40
Universal Man 154, 155, 156
Western 25, 36
ml1qiLm (station) H):!
rna 'qiiliit (in telligibles) 139
maratib (hierarchical order)
I:!:!, 150
mashluui (spectacle) of justice 150
mawjud (existent) 86
millah (pI. milal) 64
COB-
tention) 155
mitlulq see Covenan t
mu'min (true believers) 21,73
Mu 'tazilah 143
mub"in (clarity) 175
mujtahidun 118, 119, 121, 1:!2, 13:!
see also iflihiid
al-muqarrabiin (angels closest to
God) 108
lvlutakaLLimun 143
and islamization 170
muslim 21, 73
al-nafs
al-(wyawiiniyyah (animal or
192
Pannenidian
theory of u-lIlh 6
thought and being 8
universe 173
Positivist 18 n. 13
Post-Nicene Fathers 25
progress of highest virtue 1'i6
Promethean IS7
qiL(lii' 112
qadr 112
al-qalb (heart) 35,71 n. 7G, 72, 8:!
certainty of 75
seat of knowledge 139
qam(l(l (to loan) 60
qawl (words of the Prophet) 91
and the Shm'i'ah 145
quwwalt (power, faculty) 77 n.82
and freedom of the rational
soul 141
power inherent in the body
of an organ 154
rabb65 n. 67, 73,130
mbail (benefit, profit, gain) 58
mbb (Lord) 139
raj' (Ieturn) 57
as rain 58
rasm 144 n. 120
mtio35
rationalism 33, 1:!0
reconceptualizatioIl 5
Reconquista 104
Reformation 4
religio 49
religion,
world, universal, national 98
Renaissance 36, 102
means 37
Revealed Law (sharl'ah)
26,28,48,67
revealed religion 29
the name islam 30
the name Mwlirn 3()
Roman laws 29
Rome 101, 134
ai-rub (the spirit) 82, 139
,(leC'ulum 16
"ilbib (Possessor and Owner)
73, also mbb, tnillik
.saliit (prayer) 71 n. 7G
Scholastic 6, 9
Scholasticism 12, 102, 103
secular 16
concept, see al-!tayitt
definition of religion 26
ideology and education 115
Muslim scholars 124, and
loss of adab 126
roots in and i-uit of 23
secularism 19
distinction between secularizatioll and secularism 47
and the urnrnah 115
secularization
an ideology 47
and deislamization 125
applied to Western Illall :!5
defined as 17
and despiritualization 131
fruits of~O
Islam rejects 25
integral components 18, 4~
of nature 35
problems arising out of 15
process of:!, 5,19
result of 2, 2~
foots of 3, in 20, 48
secularizatiollism 47, 48
193
Signs of God 42
.1 ira! al-Illustaqlm (the Straight
path) 80
ai-sin (inmost ground)
of the soul 82
of a thing 139
society
developing 2
evolving 2
Straits of Malacca 104
~lJ.fls ]43
and islamization 170
submission
according to Islam 63
see also isla III
real 62, 66 see also aslarua
systems or forms of olher
religions 64
total 69
unwilling 65
sunltah 28, 30
(confirmed practice of the
Prophet) 71 n. 76, 143,
145, 146
abo ~'aliit
in contradistinction to
tarbiyah 151-152 n. 123
pi'ail (obedience and loyalty)
67,72
talii'ah (nature) 140
taqrir (silent confirmation) 91
and the shan 'ah 145
ta5awwuf121, 122, 143
the practice of the Shari'ah
at the station of if.tsZln
and islamization 170
and the rise of rationalism
and intellectualism 173
and wa!uiat al-wujiid 175
taw~lid (Unity of God) 64
n.66,80, 146, 162
ignorance of 118
and core knowledge 163
and islamization 170
Theas II
Thomistic Synthesis 9 n. 14,
33-36
al-tijamh (trade) 67
tragedy 137, see also Western
culture and civilization
truth-perspective 27 n, 29
ukhuwwah (brotherhood) 74
'ulmnil'43, 112, 143
false 'ulama' 118, 119
immersed ill loss of adab 126
194
113-115,119
trend of afIairs 120
marginal society 128
Universal Religion (Islam) 28
see also revealed religion
see Islam
universitatem 154
'uwwida (returning) 5711.47
Vedanta 175
Vienna Circle 7 n. 13
virtue 76, see also 'adl
highest, see il;siin
wa(ldah (Unity) 86
Western
Christianity 21, 2~" 25, 38
colonization 104
concept of justice 84
concept of knowledge 125
concept of religion 29
culture and civilization 1, 20, 97
confrontation against
Islam 97
inquiring spirit 135-136
substance, the spirit, the
character and
personality of 137
unconscious agents of 128
worldview and values 134
geographical expansion 104
intellectual hisLOry 125
life
Islamic inl1uences 102
and philosophy 135
man ;~6, 37, 38
origins and history of development 33
philosophy and science 2,48
purpose of seeking knowl-
yaqin, (Ulqq
yawfTl al-din (Day ofJudgemellt
and Requital) 60
yawm al)li,iib (Day of Reckoning)
zawiyah ]53
?iilim (beiug unjust) 77
;wtm (confusion) 46
195
de Coulanges 99
Harvey Cox 3,17 n. 17, 19 Il. 25
R. Descartes 7, II, 22
Leslie Dewal't 3, 7, 35 11. 34
Dharmakirti 172
W. Durant 2 n. 3
Meister Eckhart 102
Albert Einstein 8 n. 13
al-Farabl J 02
Sigmund Freud 4
Vasco da Gama 104
al-GhazaTi 112, 144 n. 120
Henri of Ghent 102
Etienne Gilson 7
Friedrich Gogarten 3
Adolf von Harnack 6, 7
Martin Heidegger 7
Edmund Husserl 7
IbTis 129
Ibn 'Abbas 146
Ibn .Arabi 103
Ibn I:Jaz m 144 n. 120
Ibn Khaldun 113
Ibn Man?:ur 51 n. 40
Ibn Mas'ud 150
Ibn Rushd 102
Ibn Slna see Avicenna
Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham)
57 n.47,64,65
'AeJud ai-Din al-lji 144 ll. 119
T. lzutsu 10 n. 15
Prophet Jesus 21,27,28, 100
Pope John XXIII 6
196
W. Rauch 40 n. 35
Fakhr ai-Din al-Razl If.! 11. 120
John AT. Robinson 4 II. 8
Rousseau ll3
Betrand Russell I!) H. 13
Freidrich Schiller 18 ll. 24
Moritz Schlick 7 II. 13
Duns Scotus 102
Sisyphus 137
Nathan Soderblorn
Spencer 113
al-Tahanawl 143 n. 119
Paul Tillich 2
J.H. Tufts II II. 16
'Umarl11
Amerigo Vespucci 104
Max Weber 18
W. Windelband 11 n. 16
Ludwig Wittgenstein 8 n. 13
W.H. Wright 11 n. 16
Zarathustra 2
197